Top Women in PR 2014: Susan Stern

Public relations and communications is not about tactics, big wins or expensive ideas. It’s about impact — on client’s businesses, the industries they serve and the people they reach. Susan Stern foundered her agency on that ideal and champions it through every program and partnership. Meeting Susan for the first time, you would never know she is profoundly deaf or that she’s a repeat cancer survivor. But it would be immediately apparent that she’s passionate about, fully engaged in and mindful of the world around her.

Washington D.C. based non-profit The Leapfrog Group compiled safety data on American hospitals for more than a decade. Each year it grew more frustrated that the industry’s staggering statistics weren’t improving. Virtually unknown when It partnered with Stern+Associates in 2012, Leapfrog today is a leading force for change within the hospital quality and safety movement. Sterns greatest impact is in her thought leadership strategy for Leapfrog CEO Leah Binder. Susan and her team significantly elevated her exposure through reoccurring contributions to the Wall Street Journal’s “The Experts," an ongoing Forbes column, commentary on National Public Radio and in lead stories in MSNBC and Health Leaders.